Posts tagged ‘Jon Niese’

After a very disappointing loss in Saturday afternoon’s game, the Mets were able to bounce back and win the night cap.  I believe this is the third time this season the Mets have lost the first game of a doubleheader at home only to win the second.  It’s kind of the story of this season…the team’s resiliency.

Johan Santana was very good in the first game but struggled in the eighth, and then of course the bullpen couldn’t hold on for him.  Like I’ve said over and over again, the Mets bullpen will be the reason this team fails or succeeds this year.

Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and David Wright all had nice second games after struggling in the first.  Gotta hope and pray David turns this thing around for the rest of the season.  This was his second out of third good game.

Jon Niese was awesome tonight.  I missed most of the game traveling back from Shea, but what I did see was Niese dominating the Braves.  He has great stuff and some serious moxie.  He was so nervous in his first start in Milwaukee, but he seemed confident today.  I said on the show this guy is going to impress people before September is finished, and he proved me right tonight.

Ollie Perez looks for a rebound game tomorrow after getting smacked around Tuesday night.  If Ollie gives up one or no runs, then Scott gets his bold prediction right.  So keep an eye on that.

What an amazing road trip as Ron Darling just said.  The Mets are 5-2 on this eight-game swing so far, and they lost the first game by blowing a 7-0 lead.  Gotta be proud of the boys.

Jon Niese had moments tonight where he looked real good, but he just fell apart in the fourth.  I hope the Mets give him some more chances so his confidence doesn’t get killed.

But the story of tonight’s game was the outstanding play of the bullpen.  They threw seven, yes SEVEN scoreless innings tonight.  That’s 10 scoreless since the new guys came on board.  Like I told Ted, sometimes these guys get motivated when they know their jobs are on the line.

Extra points for Nelson Figueroa and Brian Stokes.  These are the hot hands Jerry has been talking about and I think both of them will play crucial roles in getting this team to October.  Hopefully they won’t need them tomorrow so they’re nice and rested for Friday.

Endy Chavez gets some credit for this win too.  He made an outstanding throw to nail Ricky Weeks at second base in the eighth inning.  Then he got the game-winning RBI with a sac fly in the 10th.  The fringe guys have been awesome for this team during this recent stretch.

If they can sweep the Brewers, they would have a whole lot of confidence when these teams likely meet in the NLDS.  Tomorrow is a monster game, and I have a lot of faith the boys can get the job done.